Monday, May 2, 2011

BEAR day

On Bear Day, I was able to attend a seminar that focused on two different subjects that are very important to education. The first presentation was about bullying. The presenter’s study sought to find if there are specific groups or types of people that are particularly susceptible to bullying. She looked at many different areas including gender, extra-curricular involvement, race, physical characteristics and GPA. She then interviewed ten different Mercer students to see if they had been bullied or what they thought characterized those most vulnerable to being bullied. She found that those who are overweight and those who do well in school are most often bullied, while gender does not seem to be a causal factor, as both males and females seem to be bullied equally. The other presenter focused on the organization Autism Speaks and how interest groups such as this one affect democracy. She concluded that interest groups are extremely important, as they ensure that we keep our rights to led our voices and opinions be heard. They also serve as support groups for those within the groups who might need extra support.